surprise (assholes)
by accidentallysherlocked
Summary: The war has been won; the Survey Corps are out for a few final expeditions before they're disbanded. On one of the final expeditions the soldiers discover that in spite of everything that has happened, they can still be surprised by something.


**A/N: **Probably the only canon!universe fics I'll ever do are those where they've won the war and no one else has died. Ah, my Ackermen

**Disclaimer: **I don't own SnK

* * *

The Survey Corps were on one of their last expeditions. The war had been won months ago, with Mikasa Ackerman and Captain Levi slicing off the last Titan at the same time. Now instead of going out to reclaim land from the Titans, they were driven to look for places which could sustain human life. In the aftermath of the war, new settlements were springing up everywhere, further and further away from the ruins of Wall Rose, thanks to the reports of the Survey Corps. Now that the war was over, though, they were due to be disbanded after their last few scouting missions.

They were gathered around a large campfire, their tents dotting the open field which they no longer feared. Meat was being roasted on the open fire, their fat splattering satisfyingly on the flames. Levi sat aside from the rest of the merry-making of the troops, face betraying no expression whatsoever.

"What's Captain Levi's problem?" Reiner asked, nodded surreptitiously towards their commander. "He looks like a stick's been shoved up his arse ever since we came out,"

"He always looks like that," Ymir said, unconcerned. "The man didn't even _smile_ when we won the war,"

"He's just been sitting there, though; he's not even eating," Eren said.

"He's probably put off by seeing your ugly mug all day and all night now that you're finally cleared to go on expeditions," Jean suggested, reaching over and plucking some meat off Eren's plate.

"Asshole," Eren said, immediately rounding on his comrade. Though far from enemies, the two still frequently fought and riled each other up; it was the few constants that had stayed throughout the war and beyond it.

* * *

"Connie?"

"Yes, Sasha?"

It was a beautiful night out, and everyone was finally settling down to sleep. While most of the soldiers had elected to sleep within the tents, Levi's small squad chose to sleep out in the open. The midnight hue of the sky above was dotted with stars; small explosions of light hanging by the moon.

"Have you decided what you're going to do after the Survey Corps is disbanded?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Everyone else seems to know what they're going to do. Annie's going to stay and go into the Garrison with Bertholdt and Reiner, Eren and Armin and probably Mikasa are going to go explore the world on their own, and Ymir's going to stay where Historia is," Sasha sighed. "I wish I knew what I would be doing,"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Connie said. "We won't all stop being friends after the Corps are disbanded, right? Let's stick together until we figure out what we want to do with our lives,"

"Okay. Thanks, Connie,"

"No problem. Goodnight, Sasha,"

"Goodnight, Connie,"

* * *

"Armin, I can't sleep," Eren said, kicking off his blankets again.

"You're going to have to try to; Captain Levi says we're going to go further than we've been before and we're going to ride for a really long time tomorrow,"

"We always go further than before," Eren scoffed. "But I'm not tired, and I can't sleep. Where's Mikasa?"

"Hmm? I think she's further down there, on the left. She's been a bit quiet tonight, hasn't she?" Armin flipped around to face Eren.

"She's always quiet," Eren dismissed. A beat later, "Why isn't she sleeping here instead?"

"I don't know. Hasn't she been acting a bit off to you?"

"What? No, I don't think so,"

Armin sighed; he really didn't know why he'd expected Eren to have noticed something wrong with Mikasa. Even when something was wrong with her, she always kept a strong front in front of her adopted brother, and the only tip-off that something was wrong was her subtle, almost imperceptible body language. Besides, Eren could be a real blockhead at times.

"Armin, let's go do something."

"I'm not doing anything. Annie's to your left, and she'll kill you if you wake her up, which you will. Ymir's to my right, and she'll kill you too if either of us wake her up, which you will. And Mikasa will kill us both if she finds out we've been sneaking around at night instead of sleeping,"

"Armin..." Eren whined. "Let's go look for Mikasa. It's been a while since the three of us did anything together; she's always near the front now with Captain Levi,"

"Well, you know, since they started training together they've become closer,"

"I don't see why they have to train together," Eren pouted. "We barely see her anymore except during mealtimes because she's always discussing strategies with him,"

"It's been really important for us," Armin reminded his friend. They'd come across quite a few wild animals on their expeditions now, and avoiding them was essential as they had never seen some of them before, and were unsure of their capabilities.

"Still. Let's go find her,"

"Eren, even if you're not tired, I'm really tired. Will you please let me go to sleep?"

"Oh, fine," Eren sighed, pulling his blankets over his head in submission, before pulling them back down. "Goodnight, Armin,"

"Goodnight, Eren."

* * *

Mikasa lay on the ground, staring at the boundless sky above. The grass was soft and comfortable beneath her, and she was also really, really cold. The thin, threadbare blanket was barely enough to keep the warmth in, as she was now discovering, and half of her regretted switching her own thicker one with Eren's (now hers) blanket. She rolled over slightly, curled up in a foetal position in a futile attempt to keep warm. After ten minutes, she gave up trying to fall asleep. She was freezing, and there was no way she would be able to rest comfortably in this situation.

Sighing to herself, she quietly folded her blanket up and crept closer to Levi. While she would usually go to Eren and Armin in situations like this, recent developments like Bertholdt's impossibly long body on her left prompted her to turn to Levi instead. She moved toward him as quietly as she could, but he had her pinned to the ground in one quick fluid motion as soon as she got within two inches of him. Her legs kicked up instinctively to break his hold on her, but she adjusted the force of the blow just in time as she realised who exactly she would be kicking.

"What the fuck are you doing, Ackerman?" Levi hissed, careful not to wake any of the others up.

"I'm cold,"

"So you decided to spar with me in the middle of the damn night?" He demanded, tone almost bordering on disbelieving.

"I was hoping for an option that would be a little bit easier on the both of us," she muttered, glancing at the still-warm blanket on a pile in the grass that he had kicked aside earlier in favour of half-strangling her as he pinned her to the ground.

"_Tch_." He moved aside slightly, clearing the way for her to crawl into the space he had recently vacated. It was still warm from his body, and she let out a small hum of approval as she felt her muscles finally relax. "Move aside, brat," he told her, lifting up a corner of his blanket. She moved over slightly, allowing just enough space for him to crawl into.

"Have you decided what you'll be doing after we disband?" She asked after a while, her quiet voice infiltrating the silence. There was no reply for a while, and she sighed softly, assuming that he had fallen asleep.

"I'll be going into the Forest of Giant Trees," he finally said. "There isn't going to be a settlement there; the horrors of the place are still too firmly imprinted in the minds of even the civilians. It'll be quiet; I'll stay there and live in peace,"

It was quiet after that.

"You've decided this a long time ago, haven't you?"

"I didn't know this was going to be one of our last expeditions; Erwin only told me that right before we left. I thought I had more time to tell you," he admitted. "Where will you be going?"

"With you."

* * *

The next morning dawned with a warmth which surprised everyone; the nights and days had been cooler than they were comfortable with so far, and the warmth of the sunlight was something they had sorely missed. But nothing could have surprised them more than the sight of Captain Levi and Mikasa curled into one another under his blanket, both sleeping more soundly than either of them had managed to the past few nights.

"_What?_" Eren yelped, a little too loudly.

Both Mikasa and Levi cracked an eye open at the same time, causing the rest of the soldiers who had been looking on wide-eyed to jerk back in fear. They betrayed no alarm or surprise at being discovered in their compromising position, but instead looked rather comfortable, as though it was a common occurrence. Levi moved with deliberate slowness as he took in the sight of his soldiers' gaping maws, mentally going through a list of possible chores he could later dump on them as punishment.

"It's half an hour before we're due to set off," he said with chilling calmness. "If you haven't already packed, or finished whatever chores you're supposed to have done, I suggest that you go and do it now. And if you have finished everything you're supposed to do, I suggest you fuck off and go mind your own business."

The crowd cleared fairly quickly after that; anyone who cast an eye behind their shoulders towards the two strongest soldiers made unsettling eye contact with either one of the two, and didn't attempt to do so again.

"I have to go get my horse ready," Mikasa told him, as soon as the eyes were off them. "If Eren or Armin come by later, tell them I'll explain it to them later."

"_Tch_." Levi muttered. "If I'd known you were going to be so much trouble, I wouldn't have fallen for you in the first place."


End file.
